Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or CBT is a form of psychotherapy that basically helps a person to change their thinking, feeling and behaving, resulting in positive changes in a person’s quality of life. It is a popular form of therapy, as it is evidence/ research based and can be brief  and relatively simple in application.

CBT can involve a client repeating affirmations or phrases repeatedly until those phrases are ‘instilled’ in the person’s thought life. Another aspect of CBT can involve ‘putting off’ negative.  (stinking) thinking and ‘putting on’ better thoughts and attitudes. I want to share with you a very simple approach that I sometimes use and encourage my counsellees to practice. Someone shared it with me, and I’ve found it to be helpful.

1. If you can imagine that your thoughts are like the clouds in the sky, getting blown along by the wind. They don’t stop, you can’t control them.

2. Now imagine that you reached up into the sky and held one of the clouds, pulled it down and looked at it, played with it and maybe even took it with you. This is what we do with our thoughts.

3. Someone once said that you can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them nesting in your hair. This is like the cloud analogy, it is like our thought life.

4. You can’t stop the thoughts going past, like clouds or birds, but you can decide which ones you hold on to, play with and take with you. You can control which thoughts you entertain.

5. Worry is basically meditation on a negative. Choose to entertain thoughts that are positive, good and creative. Choose to think well and your life will reflect it.

Nick Gwynn

breathecounselling.com Breathe Counselling Perth
Breathe Counselling Perth is a professional, caring counselling service in the heart of the Perth CBD.
Address :
15 Lindsay St,
Perth WA 6000
Australia.
Tel : 61 422 275 494
Email : nick@breathecounselling.com